A Different Beat
by SerenadeKnight44
Summary: Zell's gone on a rampage! And it's up to Squall and company to put a stop to him before he does something drastic! Of course, it is not going to be easy...Rate and Reivew, this is my first submission at FanFiction.net!
1. Prologue

A Different Beat  
  
by Prince Tiger  
  
4-15-02 to 5-6-02  
  
1 Prologue  
  
"I'm tried of being made fun off and missing out on all the golden opportunities in life." Zell roared as his power levels increased significantly.  
  
"Zell don't do it! I've always though of you as a comrade, I may not have shown it in the beginning, but you are a valuable part of the team, please don't do this." Squall pleaded with the blond-haired superpower.  
  
"Zell we're your friends!" Selphie sobbed.  
  
"Lies! All lies! I have no friends, I am alone…" Zell frenzied.  
  
"Zell please stop, we can get you help…" Rinoa begged, but it was no use, nothing could get through to Zell.  
  
"Help? You think I need help? Haha, after I get through with all of you, you're the ones who are gonna need help…" Zell fumed as dashed towards an unprepared cowboy. With just one blow, he punched Irvine straight in the area that hurt the worse, the heart…  
  
1.1.1.1 And so our story begins… 


	2. An Abnormal Day

1 A Different Beat  
  
2 Chapter 1: An Abnormal Day  
  
It was a typical spring day at Balamb Garden. The sky was a robin's egg blue, the sun was shining its gentle rays down on everyone, and the breeze of the wind was refreshing. A familiar man dressed in blue jean shorts, a black shirt with red on it, combat gloves, spiky hair and a one of a kind tattoo pierced on the side of his face was racing down the hallway towards the cafeteria at mach speeds, in pursuit of his most beloved food: hotdogs. The delicacy had made it's return for the first time in 6 months after a major shortage had forced the Garden Committee to cut back on them. Zell Dincht was determined to be among the first to get his hands on one of them, or more, if he possibly could, before anyone else. He had already skipped class just so he could get to the cafeteria way before the normal rush.  
  
Zell, almost out of breath, finally saw the doors leading into the cafeteria. He stopped for a minute to regain his stamina and proceeded through the doors casually. Upon walking further into the cafeteria, he noticed something very unusual that made his eyes go bonkers. The cafeteria was extremely crowded, with no seating available. What made matters worse was that everyone who had found a seat, had a hotdog! And to top it all off, the current lines for food were endlessly long. Zell hopes for victory were nearly flushed down the toilet.  
  
"God Dammit!" Zell yelled to himself. "Why does everyone have to take the same idea as me and skip class?!"  
  
He stood in line anyways, he wouldn't get a hotdog just pouting and doing nothing about it. Slowly the line dimmed, Zell kept looking over the shoulder of the person in front of him to get a better view of how close he was to the front. Zell was loosing patience fast, just standing here watching people getting their hotdogs made his mouth water. Nearly fifteen minutes later, Zell was finally next in line for a hotdog.  
  
"2 hotdogs please," Zell said enthusiastically, finally believing he had scored after all the time had nearly drained him.  
  
"Sorry sir, no more hotdogs today." frowned the cafeteria worker towards Zell regretting that they were out of hotdogs.  
  
The spiky hair blond had about had it, he yelled a furious "God Dammmmmmitt!!!" He had boiled to the point of explosion, his face grew a fiery red and the heat of his body must have risen to dangerous levels. He had waited so long and hard for his hotdogs and had been denied yet again. Many times in the past he had excepted the fact that they would run out of hotdogs quickly and it didn't bother him, but after missing out so many times, and waiting so long for just one hotdog, the pain and anger inside of him just couldn't be contained any longer.  
  
Zell, enraged, slammed his fist towards the floor and created a miniature earthquake that shook the entire cafeteria violently. People shirked getting underneath the tables and covering their heads like if it was a disaster drill, except this wasn't any drill. The cafeteria shook for about a minute knocking over chairs, tables and setting fear into the hearts of the students and cafeteria staff. Eventually, the shockwave subsided. Panicked, everyone ran out of the cafeteria leaving Zell alone in the empty cafeteria.  
  
"Yes, you all better run, cowards." Zell snarled. "Owww, my fist…"  
  
***  
  
"I felt a tremor over by the cafeteria, I didn't know the land the Garden sat on was prone to Earthquakes," a nervous Rinoa Heartilly said as she and Squall Leonheart were off in the courtyard together during a study hall period.  
  
"That, or someone was casting a Quake spell, unlikely, but possible." Squall said.  
  
"I think we should check it out, students might be hurt." Rinoa said nervously.  
  
"It's none of my concern," Squall said.  
  
"Squall, how could you!" wined Rinoa.  
  
"Alright, alright, I'll check it out, you go fetch the others."  
  
"Fine, I will." Rinoa said sticking her tongue out at Squall.  
  
"How in the world did I end up with her anyways?" Squall sighed to himself as he ran towards the inside of the Garden right behind Rinoa.  
  
***  
  
In the classroom on the second floor, Quistis Trepe, now back as being a full-time instructor for Balamb Garden, was giving a lecture on Guardian Forces and their junction compatibilities, when the earthquake hit. Students screamed as the tremors shook the classroom, causing the chalkboard to fall of its hinges. A startled Quistis gave out an order to the panicked students.  
  
"Class get under your desks now!"  
  
The class did as it was told. Quistis followed a few seconds later. They all hid underneath their desks waiting for the quake to end. After a minute of intense rumbling, the quake stops and a tense Quistis dismissed her class and went to the only person she could for possible answers.  
  
***  
  
In the library, Irvine Kinneas and Selphie Tilmitt were chatting about the Garden Festival when the tremors hit. They both fell out of their chairs and onto the floor. Books started falling from bookshelves. One bookshelf nearly fell on Selphie, but Irvine's eye catch the bookshelf falling and he managed to get there in time to save her from being squashed. He helped her to her feet and Selphie hugged him tightly to rewards his efforts. But the troubles would get much worse from thereafter.  
  
***  
  
In the parking lot, an excited Seifer Almasy was testing his new cruiser that he had recently bought from Balamb Motors. It was a beauty, since he had recently waxed it and cleaned it so it could produce a sparkling shine that would be noticeable to all that saw it. He was just about to turn the key to give his baby its first drive when the quake hit.  
  
"Ahhhh, what the hell is going on?!" Seifer shouted as the whole parking lot shook violently. Suddenly, a piece of debris fell from the ceiling and crashed right through Seifer's windshield causing the glass to shatter all over the pavement. Seifer managed to escape with just a small cut and small bruises.  
  
"F*ck! That windshield cost me a fortune! Whoever is causing this quake is going to pay, and pay dearly," Seifer said angry as he grabbed his gunblade and marched inside the Garden towards the trembling waves.  
  
***  
  
Squall was already dodging falling debris from the hallways as he rushed towards the tremors with his Lionheart in hand. Around him students were fleeing the Garden in a frantic. In the middle of the mob, he caught site of a familiar pink-suited instructor.  
  
"Quistis!" he yelled trying to get her attention in the horde of people. Finally, she noticed and ran towards the gunblade specialist.  
  
"Squall, what is going on?" she asked.  
  
"I dunno, but I am heading towards the tremors, care to follow?" Squall asked.  
  
"Alright, let's check out the cafeteria, it seems like the tremor came from there." she replied.  
  
The two rushed towards the cafeteria attempting to figure out who was behind this evil plot.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Rinoa was racing through the hallway in the opposite direction of Squall looking for whomever she could find from the gang. She finally ran into two familiar figures fleeing from the library.  
  
"Irvine! Selphie!" Rinoa shouted trying to get their attentions.  
  
The two finally realized it was Rinoa and rushed over to her.  
  
"Rinoa, what the heck is goin' on!" a tense Selphie cried.  
  
"I don't know, but I need you two to come with me, we are going to find out."  
  
"Alrighty, c'mon Sefie!" Irvine said, dragging Selphie with him. Rinoa couldn't help but smile as she raced after them.  
  
***  
  
Seifer had finally made it to the main hallway as he noticed students fleeing the building in alarm. Seifer rushed in the opposite direction towards the cafeteria attempting to solve the matter alone, but ended up running into two familiar friends along the way.  
  
"Raijin! Fujin! What the hell is going on?!" Seifer yelled towards his groups attempting to get some answers.  
  
"It's the earthquake, ya know?" Raijin said nervously. "It was Zell, that blonde bimbo shook the whole café because he didn't get lunch."  
  
"Why that chicken-wuss! Always whining over not getting what he wants, don't worry I'll make him pay!" Seifer yelled as he swung his gunblade in anger.  
  
"TEAMUP?" Fujin asked, attempting to help her close friend.  
  
"Yeah, let's all go together, the more the merrier." Seifer agreed as he continued his way towards the cafeteria along with Raijin and Fujin. Within a short period of time, the trio arrived inside of the cafeteria and meet face to face with a raged Zell.  
  
"Ok Chicken-nugget, the show's over, I'm going to tear you apart for damaging my prized cruiser!' Seifer yelled, as he looked Zell straight in the eye.  
  
"I'm tired of your harsh words Seifer, all the times you've called me Chicken-wuss this and Chicken-wuss that, no…it is I who will put you out of commission." Zell calmly said with his head down. He put his two fists together and began to power up his energy. Moments later, he gave Seifer the death look. Seifer couldn't help but feel a little on edge.  
  
"Ha, such a lame threat, you couldn't take me out even if I had both my eyes closed, your weak Zell, always have and always will." laughed Seifer. Raijin and Fujin joined him almost immediately afterwards.  
  
Author's Note: "Ok! I hope this is a good start to the whole Evil Zell thing. You know, I felt kinda sorry for him always missing out on hotdogs and for being called names and all. So I decided he deserves some payback to all that have hurt him. You know all those tense feelings inside can be quite powerful if released, heh heh. This is only the beginning, hope you like the rest of the fanfic!" 


	3. Burning Rave

1 A Different Beat  
  
2 Chapter 2: Burning Rave  
  
"So what are we gonna do to him Seifer, I got a bad feeling about this ya know?" Raijin asked towards the enraged gunblade specialist.  
  
"Stand back kids, I'm going to send Chicken-fingers straight to the emergency room…" Seifer winked as he walked slowly towards Zell.  
  
"Your asking for it, Seifer, you'd best walk away while you have time to breathe."  
  
"Me walk away, the first thing you need to know after me Zell, is that I never refuse a challenge …" Seifer said as he swung his gunblade playfully at Zell. "Watch it, I almost got you that time Zelly."  
  
Zell slowly backed off while starring at Seifer inexpressively. He was not afraid, but he was waiting for the right moment to strike.  
  
"Crybaby Zell, always ranting and raving with nothing to back it up…" Seifer smiled evilly, teasing every ounce of Zell's patience. He swung his gunblade again playfully.  
  
Zell had to smirk a little at Seifer after he said that, he then made a motion with his fist, and then it attacked the floor. Zell mimicked the same attack his made the first round on the café, the second round would be Seifer. The ground again shook aggressively and Seifer started to lose his balance a little. Seifer was now temporary off-guard but it was just enough time for Zell to attack again without getting a counterattack.  
  
Zell performed his "My Final Heaven" running award from Seifer and then reappearing behind him sending a burst of energy through the tyrant's body.  
  
Seifer fell down temporary dazed from the attack. His comrades looked on surprised by the massive power Zell had exhibited. Seifer regained consciousness, and slowly got up with irritated eyes. "How…dare…you…" he cursed as he swabbed his bloody lip.  
  
Zell just stood there smiling evilly at his opponent. Seifer then pointed his sword at the tattooed-faced foe and shouted one word. "Fira!"  
  
A fiery blaze erupted beneath Zell causing some damage but not nearly enough to make Zell sweat. He counterattacked with Blizzara, which send a cold icicle through Seifer.  
  
"Ugh, not bad Chicken-wuss, you may prove to be a superior opponent after all…" Seifer acknowledged as he got to his feet. "But you haven't seen anything yet…"  
  
Seifer used a Haste spell on himself, but Zell saw this coming and quickly dispelled the time magic.  
  
"Damn you!" Seifer cursed. He had had enough, he charged at Zell attacking rapidly with his gunblade, swinging left and right endlessly, Zell though managed to dodge every single swish.  
  
"Okay, that does it Chicken Shit, I'm through playing with you, I am going to end this right now!" Seifer announced claiming victory. He powered up substantially and finally hit his Limit Break.  
  
"Say yer prayers Chicken-wuss…" Seifer smiled as he announced his ultimate attack "Fire Cross!" A large fire spell erupted on Zell as Seifer spun around multiple times creating a large energy blast in his gunblade. He stopped, pointed the blade at Zell and released an intense heat blast toward him.  
  
Zell went down on one knee breathing heavily, but looked back at Seifer again and grinned maliciously.  
  
"Im…Impossible…how could you…take so much power?" Seifer said, shocked with his eyes wide-open demanding a response. Zell just again stood there silenced. Seifer raged, "Answer me now!"  
  
"Seifer, all the years you've hurt my pride, all the years you've insulted me, all the year you've mocked me, have built up inside of me harnessing a great power. I didn't realize this until one day I thought of you and landed a punch on my punching bag at home. I created a huge gash in my wall. Never, in my entire life, have I done that before. Even when I traveled with Squall to defeat the sorceress I didn't have this power, but the moment I thought of you or was torn apart inside, I could create a huge strength inside of me and well look around you…"  
  
Seifer looked around and had just now realized the cafeteria was in ruins. Chairs were burned in ash, tables devastated and the structure of the building itself was in mayhem. He had never seen such a site like this before in his life.  
  
"And now that you know my secret, your life ends now…"  
  
Seifer could only watch in horror as Zell powered up again motionless. Zell's upper body went into flames and then he sent another fist full of energy toward the ground create another "Burning Rave." Seifer could only watch as the line of erupted earth heading straight for him.  
  
Author Note: "Okay this was a short chapter I know, but I thought this would be the best way to end it without spoiling the next part. That's how I am ^^. Wow! Zell sure has acquired some power since we last knew him. I wonder what he'll do next… Poor Seifer, I can only say he should have saw this coming and not created this mess, after all it's his fault teasing Zell straight from his childhood. They say, if we grow up with painful emotions, it can create a "stronger" adult in us, I guess that couldn't be more true that in this fic, LOL. Hope you all are enjoying it; let's continue shall we? ^^." 


	4. Dark Allies

1 A Different Beat  
  
2 Chapter 3: Dark Allies  
  
"I heard a scream Irvy!" cried Selphie as she held him tighter. The sounds were really starting to bring out her softer, innocent side.  
  
"Don't worry Sefie, we are gonna find out what it is and take care of it, I won't let 'em do this…" Irvine said comforting her.  
  
"You're right Irvy, if we defeated the sorceress, then this should be no prob right?"  
  
"I couldn't have said it better…" Irvine replied brushing her short, brown hair.  
  
"We have to hurry, who knows what they're be plotting next!" shouted Rinoa, who the whole time was thinking of how Squall was doing.  
  
***  
  
"I didn't like the sound of what I just heard, Squall…" said a worried Quistis as she was running alongside her friend towards the café.  
  
"Yeah, it sounded like someone just got killed or something," Squall said to himself.  
  
"Squall? Is everything alright?" questioned Quistis.  
  
"Yes, perfectly fine…" Squall responded. "I hope…"  
  
The two finally arrived at the cafeteria entrance. All of a sudden, two familiar faces ran out of the foyer and spotted Quistis and Squall.  
  
"Squall, are we glad to see you!" said a man with a long stick.  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE," agreed the women with a patch over her left eye.  
  
"Good to see you alive, what's happened?" asked Squall showing concern.  
  
"Seifer got creamed, ya know?" Raijin replied getting a little teary-eyed.  
  
"Impossible…" Squall gasped in reponse to what he had just heard.  
  
"Is anyone else injured?" Quistis inquired.  
  
"NEGATIVE," Fujin answered shaking her head.  
  
Squall and Quistis were relived, but now they were deciding what their next move should be. They didn't want to be too hasty about it, for it could decide the outcome of the oncoming battle.  
  
"So what do we do, Squall…" Quistis looked at him showing anxiety.  
  
"We should wait for the others arrive, if we go in there now and take on all of them, we don't stand a chance…" declared Squall.  
  
"Wait a minute, did you just say 'all of them', heh heh, cause my ears are ringing, ya know?" Raijin responded faltering.  
  
"Yeah…why?" asked Squall.  
  
"There's only one person in there that took Seifer down…"  
  
"And who was that?"  
  
"ZELL." Fujin cut in.  
  
"WHAT?!" Quistis shrieked loudly, not believing what she had just heard.  
  
"What's wrong Quistis?" yelled a familiar voice from the distance. Quistis turned around as did Squall and the others and noticed Rinoa, Irvine and Selphie standing there out of breath.  
  
"Oh you three, thank goodness you're here…" Quistis said letting out a breath.  
  
"What's up?" Irvine asked, still not having received a straight answer on what was going on.  
  
"It's Zell, he's…killed Seifer…" Squall exposed.  
  
"WHAT? But that's not true," Selphie stated. "Zell's a kind and loving man, he may be irrational sometimes, butttt…."  
  
"Yes, I know, but we have to find out what he's up too…I know Zell can throw fits like Selphie sometimes but…"  
  
"Heyyyy Meanie…" Selphie wailed.  
  
"Okay sorry…maybe I over exaggerated a little…"  
  
"A Little? You hurt Sefie's feelings!" Rinoa moped.  
  
"Geez, next time I say what's on my mind, I'll keep my mouth shut…"  
  
Fujin and Raijin explained to Squall what had happened recently, how Seifer had met his fate by challenging Zell, how Zell had increased in power radically, and so on. But they still didn't know why Zell was doing this, he had given no explanation whatsoever why he had damaged the cafeteria except that he was pain stuck from not getting a hotdog after so many attempts in the past.  
  
The gang entered the lunchroom to see Zell still standing there near Seifer's body. He laughed and taunted the group as they entered.  
  
"Zell what happened to you?" asked Squall as he saw Zell log him square in the eye.  
  
"Nothing happened, it's called common sense, I just took care of some unfinished business…" Zell scorned.  
  
"Then why did you smash up the cafeteria?" Quistis entered.  
  
"Oh oops, guess it sort of got in the way," laughed Zell thinking he was making a hit list of jokes.  
  
"That's not a good enough reason, you knew it would be wrong to take on Seifer, and hurt the Garden in the process."  
  
"Yes, but it didn't stop me did it?"  
  
"Whatever happened to the man that I knew that used to stay cool when times were tough and help out others that needed help?" Selphie asked nervously.  
  
"He's gone, and I don't help traitors, I should have started this long ago, but I wasn't able to exploit so much power."  
  
"Zell you're not making any sense, this isn't like you at all?" Squall said.  
  
"Not like me at all you say, then I guess you really didn't know me well did you Squall?"  
  
"I thought I did, but you are full of surprises Zell, come on stop this nonsense at once."  
  
"Nonsense? This isn't nonsense, this is the dream that I have waited so long for, and now that I have worked so hard for it I'm not letting it go!" Zell raged as he began to power up again filling his mind with hate and obscurity.  
  
"Zell stop!" Quistis queried.  
  
"I'm tried of being made fun off and missing out on all the golden opportunities in life, I'm not letting some mindless fools get in my way." Zell roared as his power levels increased significantly.  
  
"Zell don't do it! I've always though of you as a comrade, I may not have shown it in the beginning, but you are a valuable part of the team, please don't do this." Squall pleaded with the blond-haired superpower.  
  
"Zell we're your friends!" Selphie sobbed.  
  
"Lies! All lies! I have no friends, I am alone…" Zell frenzied.  
  
"Zell please stop, we can get you help…" Rinoa begged, but it was no use, nothing could get through to Zell.  
  
"Help? You think I need help? Haha, after I get through with all of you, you're the ones who are gonna need help…" Zell fumed as dashed towards an unprepared cowboy. With just one blow, he punched Irvine straight in the area that hurt the worse, the heart…  
  
"Irvy!" Selphie whimpered.  
  
"Now who's next?!"  
  
Author's Note: "Woah Zell is getting pissed again, not only did he kill Seifer (who by the way is cool, sorta, lol ^^), but now he's after our heroes. This is not the same Zell they once knew; this is a darker side full of hate and dark intentions. You know it was harder to write this as my emotions are getting a little deeper so bare with me as we get through it together…Who is Zell going after next? Stay tuned!" 


	5. Unimaginable Battle

1 A Different Beat  
  
2 Chapter 4: Unimaginable Battle  
  
The spiky-haired blond fighter flaring with power was on one site of the cafeteria and a stray wolf; an angel, an instructor, a carefree girl and a fallen cowboy were on the other side. Nothing was said and no movements were made until one spoke.  
  
"I am…"  
  
"Heh, I never would have expected you to be the first of the orphanage group to fall," sneered the highly confident Zell who put his fist in a fighting stance.  
  
"You had no right to punch Irvine, he may not be the strongest fighter, but he's got class, something you'll only be able to dream of Zell…" said the contender.  
  
"You don't need style to be the best, little girl, all you need is power and a sense of purpose and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, didn't your instructors tell you that?" Zell mocked as he slowly stepped approached his challenger.  
  
"Well Zelly, I'm ready when you are…"  
  
"Let's get it on…" Zell instructed as he gave an evil smile and put his fist together in preparations for a magic attack, the opponent did the same at that exact moment putting her nunchakus together in a "Z". The cheerful young girl shouted out a commanding "Thundaga!" and sent a huge lightning bolt towards Zell, tearing part of the café floors apart in the process. Zell gasped as he was hit straight on not expecting a magic attack so quickly from the girl in the yellow dress. His energy levels slumped from loosing so much in the gathering of his own energy.  
  
"Curses, what a pitiable error, you won't get many chances like that Selphie!" Zell cursed as he held his right arm. Selphie looked on not holding back her concentration for even a second.  
  
Zell looked down for merely a second, then slowly raised his head up toward the girl in the yellow dress and smirked at her fighting stance. He tightened his gloves and looked at her expressionlessly. He was looking for the single moment that Selphie would show a weakness, he concentrated looking into her deep green emerald eyes and suddenly he saw it. He dashed immediately to strike Selphie, but she saw the attack coming and slid underneath Zell as he ran by. He screeched to a halt and looked back disgusted.  
  
"You've improved Selphie, I'll give you credit for that…" Zell approved.  
  
"You a'int seen nothing yet!" a confident Selphie scoffed as she rose her nunchakus into the heavens and performed a triple flare on Zell. Zell fried intensely and rioted in pain. Selphie however was not showing any concern for the pitiful man; she wanted him to pay dearly for hurting her beloved.  
  
Suddenly, Zell flew out of the blaze and rushed at Selphie pinning her to the ground in a quick movement. Selphie screamed as Zell held her tightly to the cafeteria floor preventing her from escaping. Zell just laughed continuously at the frightened girl as he looked into her tear-strung eyes.  
  
"So fragile, but yet so deadly you are, but still you are too weak and frail…" Zell gloated to his captured prey.  
  
"Zell let me..mppph!" Selphie never got to finish her sentence as Zell's lips had silenced her words.  
  
Selphie could not elude this unexpected motion; all she could do was accept it with dishonor. She closed her dripping eyes and her torn heart burned with anger. Slowly, her life was slipping away as Zell drained her energy down to 1. The others watched on and could do nothing or risk their own lives in the course of action. Only one defied the cogs of fate.  
  
"Nooooo!!!" screamed an enraged sharpshooter as he shot Zell in the forehead with dark ammo. Zell took the blow but wasn't even fazed as he continued to abuse Selphie with his kiss of death. She was now unconscious.  
  
Irvine sprinted after Zell and punched him directly in the face knowing him back, but Zell counterattack with his fist full of fury and struck Irvine back into the area he had attacked earlier. Irvine fell right on the remains of Selphie as the two laid motionless just hanging onto life by a thread.  
  
"Pitiful…" Zell derided as he spat on the two lifeless bodies. The others could not help but look on in resentment and rage.  
  
"Zell, why you bastard…" Squall roared at the combatant.  
  
"Save it for later Squash, I'm tired of this, so I'll give you all a break just so you have time to show me really power and prove to meet more of my expectations next time. You all had better come prepared the next time we meet, fore I have not gathered yet enough energy to let loose my full potential. If you dare try and stop me from draining the life out of this miserable planet you had better come to Dollet. Fail, and this planet is history!" Zell announced as he gave one last looked at the others and raced off to his waiting chocobo outside of the cafeteria.  
  
"Zell…" Rinoa scowled as she watched the titan vanish into the sunset.  
  
Author's Note: Ouch! Poor Irvine and Selphie…My deepest apologize for not warning about the slight abuse in this, I hope it doesn't affect anything. I didn't want to make it too strong, but I guess it got to that point. What an evil way for Zell to kiss right in front of Irvine! ^^. I also wanted to give the fighters a break. Just wait until the next chapter! Hope you like what you are reading; leave me feedback if you have the time! 


	6. Preparations

1.1 A Different Beat  
  
1.2 Chapter 5: Preparations  
  
"I'm not letting him get away!" Squall roared as he whistle for his chocobo and sped after Zell.  
  
"Squall wait!! Dang, too late!" Rinoa pouted, then rushed over to the bodies of her fallen friends.  
  
"Selphie! Irvine! Wake up…Please!" pleaded a fearful Quistis as she was trying to move them, but the two fallen friends showed absolutely no signs of life. "Rinoa! Are you carrying any Full-Life?" Quistis panicked swinging her left arm towards her in a swift motion.  
  
"Umm, I dunno, let's see…" Rinoa hesitated as she checked her pockets of her tight black shorts. Unfortunately they were empty. "N…no I don't…"  
  
"Damn it…!" Qusitis shouted as he placed a hand over his face in repulse.  
  
Meanwhile…on the Balamb Plains  
  
"Get back here you bastard!" Squall yelled as he was riding his chocobo after Zell. His chocobo was fast, but Zell's was faster. When did Zell have time to train a chocobo anyways, he wondered.  
  
"Ha, catch me if you can lionhearted simpleton!" Zell laughed as he made a great turn to the right, Squall flew right past him.  
  
"Shoot! C'mon you stupid bird!" Squall hollered, and the bird got back up and continued to chase Zell.  
  
"Oh, so you are pretty fast, well hope you like fried Chocobo!" Zell laughed as he summoned up a Firaga. But with him on a chocobo, magic was not his strength. He missed Squall by a large distance.  
  
"Your blind Zell, you had better be able to do better than that!" Squall called as he raised his hand to perform a couterattack. "Slow!"  
  
It worked, Zell's chocobo slowed down and Squall was able to catch up to it and knock Zell off. He landed on the plains and appeared dazed and confused.  
  
"And I didn't even have to use a Confuse attack, what luck!" Squall mocked.  
  
"You think that's funny don't ya Squall, well try this!" Zell taunted as he perfomed a haste spell. He instant performed his limit break "My Final Heaven" and in just a few seconds sped off towards the city of Balamb. Squall, shocked from seeing this, fell off his chocobo and lay motionless in the grass. "Damn it, he's fast!" Squall hissed. "Well no use crying over spilled milk, I guess I should report back to the others…" with that, he took his chocobo and trotted back to Garden.  
  
***  
  
"Squall!" Rinoa cried and rushed by his side hugging his tightly.  
  
"I…I couldn't stop him…I'm…so sorry Selphie and Irvine…if their only was something I could do…" Squall wept slightly as he held Rinoa.  
  
"You did nothing wrong Squall…" she said as she stroked his brown hair.  
  
"I should have interfered and took that attack instead of Selphie…" Squall said in a tear-strung voice that was cracking. Squall did the only thing he could do, he looked in Rinoa's eyes and as he embraced her, he let his lips flow towards his angel and express what words could not.  
  
Suddenly, Rinoa backed off and got to her feet hastily, leaving Squall to fall straight into the floor hard. "Ouch! Rinoa!" Squall spattered, "Why did you…" But a loud whistle that came from Rinoa's lips interrupted his words.  
  
Quisits looked on curiously not knowing what was going on, then it hit her and a dog leaped into her lap and started licking her rapidly.  
  
"Hey! Down Angelo, down!" Quistis giggled as she was overcome by dog slobber. Rinoa couldn't help but giggle along with her.  
  
"Angelo, come!" Rinoa ordered as the dog slowly got off the blonde-haired instructor, and rushed into the arms of its master.  
  
"I have a job for you Angelo," Rinoa said as she signaled to the husky with the snap of her fingers. "Angelo Reverse!"  
  
A holy light entered the ruined cafeteria and glowed on top of Selphie and Irvine. The bright light shined heavenly on the two fallen warriors and sent energy into their lifeless bodies. Their colors returned and moments later, the two slowly stood on their feet and looked into each other eyes wondering if they truly were alive or if this was a dream.  
  
"Selphie, you're alive…" Irvine gasped looking at the vision of loveliness blushing slightly at his remarks.  
  
"Yes…I thought I was a goner…" she grinned as she went up to Irvine and embraced him affectionately.  
  
"I thought you were gone, I couldn't stop him from hurting you Sefie, I'm sorry…" Irvine frowned as he stroked her short hair in forgiveness.  
  
"It's ok Irvine, their was nothing you could do…I'm just glad you tried to rescue me even though you knew it was hopeless…" she replied as she moved her lips towards his.  
  
"Glad you're all safe, now theirs something I need to do…" Squall said as he left the cafeteria on his own.  
  
"Squall wait! Where are you going?" Rinoa cried, but it was too late; the gunblade specialist had already left the cafeteria leaving behind confused looks on his comrade's faces.  
  
***  
  
"What do we do while he's gone, he specifically said not to follow him…" Quistis said.  
  
"Hey what about Seifer?" Rinoa squealed as she pointed to the lifeless figure in the corner of the demolished cafeteria.  
  
"Oh god, I forgot about him!" Quistis trembled as she and the other ran towards Seifer's body.  
  
"He's really been busted up…" Selphie said as he observed the unconsciousness of Seifer as he lay there motionless with his eye shut. "I don't know if a Full-Life will work on him…"  
  
"It's worth a attempt," Quistis encouraged as she spoke back to Selphie. "Do you have any on you?"  
  
"Umm…I think so…" she hesitated as she checked her pockets. To everyone's surprise Selphie pulled out a Full-Life and began to chat the incantation. A bright flash of light appeared and waves of its healing energy entered the lifeless body of Seifer. At first, it seemed like the revival was unsuccessful as the light vanished from whence it came. But moments later, a slight gasp of breath escaped from the lips of the blonde-haired student and he opened his crusted eyes for the first time in hours. The looks on the watchers faces were ecstatic as they welcomed back their once-sworn enemy.  
  
"Ugh…" moaned Seifer as he was still coming around, "What the hell happened to me, why am I a mess?"  
  
"Well if we told you, you'd probably get pissed," giggled Selphie.  
  
Seifer of course was not too pleased with this; "If you don't tell me, I will kill you!" he replied in his usual manner  
  
"Okay Seifer, geez not something you should be saying to the one who saved your life," Quistis said.  
  
"Okay never mind, it's all coming back to me, it was that Chicken-wuss!" Seifer snared as he was reminded of his earlier defeat at the hands of Zell.  
  
"Well you're not the only one who fell to the titan…" Rinoa remarked as she pointed to Irvine and Selphie.  
  
"So, not even one of us is a challenge to him, well we are going to have to take more brutal actions," Seifer said as he thought of a plan to defeat his spiky-haired rival. "What about the GF's?"  
  
"We could use them, but we should think of alternative methods first before constructing to violence…" Quistis inquired as the right solution to take.  
  
"Bullshit, I say we just kill the idiot while we have the chance, while you all think of a plan, he's probably out destroying civilization as we know it!" Seifer countered stating his own plan.  
  
"Well one thing is for sure, he's heading towards Dollet, we should go there and see if we can learn more about what he is up to, we might be able to find a solution that way…" Rinoa requested. The gang agreed with this compromise.  
  
"The garden's in bad shape, it's too risky to use as transportation, let's use the Ragnarok to git to Dollet!" Irvine insisted as he held up the keys to the vessel.  
  
"Booyaka! good idea Irvy, but I'll drive! Tee-hee!" giggled the always- spritual Selphie, as she stole the keys and raced off towards where the ship was parked.  
  
"Oh great, with her driving we might have more problems than with Zell," chuckled Irvine.  
  
"Well now that we have that settled, we just have…hey where's puberty boy?" Seifer asked as he learned against the cafeteria wall.  
  
"Someone mention me?" came a voice from the entranceway of the café.  
  
"Squall! Did you get your 'little thing' taken care of?" Rinoa asked in concern.  
  
"Relax Rinoa, I had to talk to Xu and Nida to inform them of our mission," Squall answered. "They will be keeping an eye on the Garden for us while we are away, so there shouldn't be any problems here. I also suggest we take the Ragnarok to Dollet, it's the fastest way, Irvine do you have the keys?" Squall asked the cowboy whom he had let him keep for such emergencies. Irvine could only smile at Squall.  
  
"I did, until a certain girl in a yellow dress took them right out of my hands." he said to the commander.  
  
"Irvine…eh nevermind," Squall said as he shook his head in disgust. "Let's go to the air dock. I just hope Selphie can get us to Dollet in one-piece."  
  
Squall led the others to the air dock. Little did they all know that they were running straight into a trap, a trap in which they could not escape so easily…  
  
Author's Note: Well, now that preparations are complete with the uncertainty of Selphie's driving at stake ^^, we are left with only one major question. Do our heroes have what it takes to defeat their long-lost friend and get out in one piece? Read on to find out. Oh and Squall, remember next time not to trust a flirtiest cowboy with the keys to a million dollar spacecraft. 


	7. The Golden Key

1 A Different Beat  
  
1.1.1 Chapter 6: The Golden Key  
  
The peaceful city of Dollet had not yet fully recovered from the events involving the Galbadian forces from a year ago. But little did they know that a familiar friend would prove to be a devastating foe. Zell approached Dollet after paying 20 gil for a boat ride across the ocean waters. He looked around at the familiar mountainside city and chuckled. "Hasn't changed much…but it will soon…"  
  
***  
  
"Uhh, Guys…" Selphie said aloud to the crew on the Ragnarok as she was piloting the ship at alarming speed.  
  
"What is it now Selphie?" Squall asked annoyed.  
  
"Umm, this may not be important or anything, but what if Zell has been like, evil from the very start and was faking the whole friendship thing with us…" Selphie revealed.  
  
"I doubt that, Zell may be a little strange at time, but he's helped me out dozens of times throughout our friendship." Squall replied. "I mean, what about that time when we were all being held captive in the Galbadia Prison. We wouldn't have made it out alive if it wasn't for Zell. He fought for our freedom. Relying on his fist for fighting he was able to defeat the guards while we were all weaponless. He figured out the controls for that transport pod and got us out of there. I don't think he would have done that and more, and then just wait for this particular day to destroy the whole world and us. It just doesn't make sense, there has to be some logical explanation for all that's been occurring lately."  
  
"Moreover of what I was thinking," agreed Quistis as he gave Seifer the death eye.  
  
"Ok ok, so I exaggerated a little, but if Zell even tries to pick a fight will Dollet, we all step in agreed?"  
  
"Right!" everyone said in unison.  
  
"Uhh…Guys!" Selphie wailed.  
  
"What now Selphie?!" Squall retorted getting extremely fed up with the spunky girl.  
  
"We're out of gas!!!"  
  
"Irvine! Didn't you fill the tank the last time you used it?" Squall asked furiously.  
  
"What, that was my job? Now you tell me!" Irvine protested as the ship began to lose altitude dramatically.  
  
"Shit! Everyone hold on!" Squall instructed as the ship crashed into the ocean with an enormous splash.  
  
***  
  
"I wonder how Seifer and the others are doing, I'm worried ya know?" Raijin said concerned over his friends.  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE," agreed Fujin.  
  
"Wanna get a hotdog?" Raijin asked, getting a tad hungry from all the excitement happening at Balamb Garden lately.  
  
"AFFIRRRMMMATIVVVEE!!!" said a joy-toned Fujin as she raced off to the cafeteria leaving behind Raijin with a water droplet coming down the side of his face.  
  
"Hey wait for me! I'm not a sprinter, ya know?" Raijin cried as he ran after his partner.  
  
***  
  
"Everyone alright?" asked the commander after the demoralizing impact of the Ragnarok into the ocean.  
  
"I think so…" ached Rinoa trying to stand up on her two feet, but wobbling at the attempt.  
  
"Yea…h," Quistis replied feeling her forehead and encountering a small cut.  
  
"Where'd my hat go?" a frantic Irvine questioned as he searched the ship's interior for it.  
  
"Screw your hat, we should be more worried about the ships condition, can it still fly?" Seifer demanded.  
  
"Don't think so, at least not for a while, we need to call some technicians…" Selphie asked getting strange looks from her passengers.  
  
"Great…while we're stuck in here, Zell's probably on the rampage in Dollet by now…" Squall signed as he put his left hand on his forehead checking for any injured he may have received from the crash.  
  
"So what do we do here, right now we're just drifting along the water going who knows what direction…" Quistis inquired to the commander.  
  
"How am I suppose to know, it's not like I was born with the talents to be a leader…" Squall grumbled.  
  
"C'mon Squall think of something!" Rinoa pleaded.  
  
"Whatever…" replied the gunblade specialist.  
  
"Some leader you are…" moaned his once-to-be-known rival.  
  
***  
  
Meanwhile, Zell Dincht was approaching his destination, the communicator tower of Dollet. He walked up the familiar zigzag road that he had once walked up a year ago with Squall and Seifer. At that time, they were in pursuit of the Galbadia Army that was trying to take over the tower. He reached the top of the road where it curved and went down to the tower's entrance. He remembered when Selphie, once the messenger girl, had jumped off the cliff, and Squall and himself had taken the long way around. "I wonder what it would feel like if I jumped off this cliff…" Zell thought to himself. "Well…only one way to find out I guess…" with that being said, Zell jumped off the cliff and nearly landed on his face. "Woah, how the hell did Selphie manage to get down here in once piece?" he questioned to himself, but brushed the thought aside and continued walking towards the towers entrance.  
  
***  
  
"C'mon Selphie, try it again…" beseeched her associate Irvine. Selphie was frantically working on patching an SOS call back to Garden, or any Garden for that matter. After receiving the Ragnarok, the once-renowned Headmaster Cid had asked all 3 Gardens to set up a communications control center for any vessel that needed to patch though for important information during SeeD missions. It had improved communications significantly and saved a lot of money in the process. It would have been useful in times like these, but Selphie couldn't get the communication console to work, she had assumed from the beginning it had got damaged in the crash and now it was certain.  
  
"No can do, sweetie, the communication panel is busted, their is no way we can signal for help, we're stuck out here for a while…" Selphie signed revealing the news to everyone.  
  
"Can you get the information map up Selphie? Can you at least tell us how far off course we are from Dollet?" Squall asked figuring it would be at least useful to know this information.  
  
"Hold on a sec, 'kay?" she said as she punched a couple of commands into the computer and didn't get a response from first so she literally slammed her fist onto the computer finally getting a map of the area.  
  
"Ok what's it say?" Quistis asked the young pilot.  
  
"Not looking good, that crashed took us about 10 miles off course," Selphie revealed. We're drifting towards the outskirts of Timber…"  
  
"Wonderful, well Selphie keep working on the communication signal, let me know when you make any progress. The rest of us, we're on standby." Squall ordered as he got up and walked to the corridors alone.  
  
"I just hope Zell doesn't get too violent," Rinoa worried as she sat cross-legged on the floor with Quistis and Irvine.  
  
"I wonder what the heck happened to him, he used to be so good, he used to never hurt anyone, he was always there for us when we needed him," Quistis wondered.  
  
"Well I'm not sure, he's been like this for about 2 weeks. Before then, he was the Zell we used to know…" Rinoa said.  
  
"What happened two weeks ago, do you know Rinoa?" asked Quistis, determined as ever to take every clue and use in to figure out the whole puzzle.  
  
"Well Zell and me were in the library just hanging around. Squall was really busy so I didn't want to disturb him; you know how he is sometimes."  
  
"Yeah Squall can get pretty uptight about people interfering in his business, I should know…heh heh," Quistis chuckled. Rinoa couldn't help but join her in momentarily.  
  
"Yes, you have a point their Quistis, anyways, Zell came by and invited me to the library with him, he wanted some pointers on how to get the pigtail girl to like him."  
  
"Ok, sounds smooth so far…anything else?"  
  
"Well I showed him this really good book I had read one time a while back, he seemed to have liked it, then all of sudden his fist went down to the floor and rattled the library."  
  
"Strange…just out of no where he did that?"  
  
"That's right, after it happened, he pushed me away with incredible force, I couldn't even get near him, every time I did, I fell back against the wall…and he looked really cold and clammy, like something out of a horror movie"  
  
"Hmm, well that is not like Zell, even if he didn't like the book, he wouldn't have done all those things…I wonder."  
  
"What is it Quistis, what's on your mind…"  
  
"Rinoa did you feel any different yourself about this event? Like weaker than normal or something?"  
  
"Well now that you mention it, I do feel weaker now than I used to. What are you getting at?"  
  
"I have this feeling you might have lost your sorceress powers, when you had them. You were way stronger than you used to be, it now seems you've return to that status of not being powerful, no offense or anything of course."  
  
"Impossible, I didn't feel any energy leave my body during that experience with Zell, and even if it did…wait, could that energy have entered him and taken him over causing that eruptive force?"  
  
"I think it's possible, but I've never heard of a sorceress's power entering a man, in the past it's always been women. You absorbed the powers of Adel and Edea correct?"  
  
"Yes, I believe so. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well I read in an ancient book Laguna gave to me when we visited Esthar that a new sorceress can only absorb the power from one previous sorceress. More than one, and the sorceress within a year of absorbing the two powers will lose all of their powers and the closest person will receive the two powers by default."  
  
"Oh God, that that means…"  
  
"Yes, Zell has the combined powers of the Sorceress Adel and Sorceress Edea."  
  
"That doesn't make sense, when you absorb sorceress powers, you don't lose your mind in the process…I only did when…oh god no…that's not possible…"  
  
"Yes, the only explanation for what's been happening lately must be due to the fact that Sorceress Ultimecia must be alive…"  
  
Author's Note: Hope you like the new plot development. I had not planned originally to have it go this way, but I thought what the heck, it would make things more interesting than Zell just turning on the team for no reason, I didn't think that would make sense since we know Zell isn't just like that. So, he had a little help getting bad, nothing wrong with that, but maybe he got TOO much help. Double trouble with double the powers of a natural sorceress, hahaha! Hope you are psyched for the next chapter! Keep reading and reviewing! 


	8. Revealed Truths

1 A Different Beat  
  
Chapter 7: Revealed Truths  
  
He gazed at the satellite dish that sent the radio waves into the atmosphere and smiled. "This is what I have been waiting months for," he said to himself as he slowly walked towards the tower's control box. He took a closer look and began to backup a little. "Do I really have to do this? I'm…" his thinking was suddenly interrupted by a strong force of energy that pierced into his mind.  
  
"Zell, remember those traitors are not your friends, I am your only friend forever…" said the voice in his head.  
  
"Yes m'lady, I understand, I will teach those vermin a lesson once I activate the tower and spread my power across the land."  
  
"Good boy, now don't disappoint me, I don't except failure as an excuse, I want revenge on those accursed SeeD's, and they will learn once and for all not to mess with me."  
  
"Yes I understand…"  
  
Once the voice had left his mind, Zell focused back to his mission on activating the tower. He flipped a number of switches to get the satellite dish online. Then he climbed the large structure until he reached the top arriving at the tip of the satellite.  
  
"Ok World, let's see how you stand up to this…" Zell mumbled under his breath as he began to power up to his maximum potential. The yellow energy barrier grew around him expanding more and more as he charged up. The world beneath his feet began to shake violently until he had finally reached full power.  
  
The satellite began discharging energy waves that went straight into Zell. They passed through his powered body and left as rays of extreme danger. They flowed in every direction of the planet and no one could escape the tyrant's madness, as his plan for world domination had finally been unleashed.  
  
"Any progress, Sefie?" Irvine asked trying to give the crew an update on the damaged ship's components.  
  
"Nada, it's hopeless, I was never prepared for something like this, I can't do a thing, sorry guys!" Selphie replied revealed the bad news.  
  
"Well at least we have an idea of what happened to Zell, there is no doubt in my mind that Quistis's theory is in fact the truth of Zell's change, and if my assumptions prove correct, we should be able to stop Zell and bring him back to his old self without killing him…" Squall said to the gang who all nodded in agreement when he had finished explaining his own theory.  
  
"So how do we intend to stop Zell and save him from the powers of the sorceress's?" asked Rinoa.  
  
"Well I know a sorceress is not free of all her powers until she can rest in peace, that's what Edea told me in the time compressed world, but, Zell is not a sorceress, he's a sorcerer. I don't know whether or not the same goes for him as it did for Ultimecia." Squall pondered. "Since it wasn't Zell's fault that he got the powers of the two sorceress from Rinoa, their must have been someone outside of the realm that did this, and there is no doubt in my mind that it was Ultimecia. If we can take out Ultimecia one more time, the line of sorceress's will simply cease to exist and we can all live a normal life without the threat of sorceress's.  
  
"Quick questions kayyy?" Selphie asked while sitting in the pilot's chair of the Ragnavok. "Ok, so umm if like Zell is filled with the powers of the sorceress's, where is Ultimecia, I mean, we destroyed her back in the time compressed world, how did she get to this world?"  
  
"Same way, she did the first time I guess, through one's mind, and that mind is Zell."  
  
"So she's in Zell's mind?"  
  
"Yes, or at least I think so…"  
  
"Hey, wait a minute, couldn't we just enter Zell's mind and take out Ultimecia there?" asked Quistis. "I mean for one thing she can't possibly be living anymore, we destroyed her living being, but her sprit could still remain, and we've already believed that she's in Zell's mind."  
  
"I don't know how we can enter Zell's mind unless…"  
  
"Yes, we can contact Sis, I mean Ellone, and use her mind power's to enter Zell's mind and destroy Ulitmecia."  
  
"So that's the plan then?"  
  
"Yes, but first we need to confront Zell in Dollet, if we take him out long enough that he'll remain unconscious for a while, we may have enough time to enter his mind and defeat Ultimecia.  
  
"Hey guyssss, come lookie here! We've got company!" screamed an excited Selphie as she jumped up and down pointing out the window on the deck. Squall grumbled wondering what the hell Selphie saw this time. He climbed up onto the deck and looked out to the endless sea.  
  
"I don't see anything?"  
  
"Silly, you're lookin' the wrong way, and here you'll need these," smiled Selphie as she giggled, handing him the binoculars.  
  
Squall held the binoculars to his eyes and looked in a 360-degree radius looking for whatever Selphie had saw, finally he spotted the object. It was a white ship…Squall gasped;  
  
"Could it be…" he thought not believing his eyes for one moment after seeing the ship, well he wasn't going to take any chanced not believing it. He rushed back down into the hatch and alerted the others of the predicament who also had to come up on deck to see the white ship with their own eyes.  
  
"Irvine, do we have any flares?"  
  
"Sure do Squall, want me to fire one?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Ok, ok, don't git so excited like a buckin' bronco," Irvine teased as he took out his sharpshooter, put one of the emergency flare into it, and fire a perfectly angled shot straight towards the white ship.  
  
After a little while, the object got bigger and indeed it was a white ship, but not just any ship, it was Esthar's SeeD ship.  
  
"Are you all alright?" asked the commander on the ship as he sent his SeeD's on board to help whatever needed to be done.  
  
"Yes, thanks to you, I am Squall, commander of Balamb's Ragnavok, and you are?" Squall asked a little unsure of this so-called commander.  
  
"Pardon me, I am Troa, commander of this Esthar SeeD ship." reveald the commander.  
  
"From Esthar? Perfect, can you take us to Dollet, our ship is busted and…"  
  
"Say no more, it's a mere honor to be in the presence of the group that defeated the sorceress, I am at your command." the commander said as he bowed in front of the group.  
  
"Please, no formalities, but we need to get to Dollet on the double, our fellow comrade has gone insane and is trying to destroy this world. It's a stage one alert!"  
  
"Done, we shall go to Dollet together, I will leave some technician to fix your ship." the commander instructed as he lead the Balamb party on the white SeeD ship. The next destination was Dollet where a familiar titan was waiting for them.  
  
Author's Note: Finally! Squall and company are off to face Zell in Dollet. Ok, from this point on I need to warn you the story might go a little quicker. I'm rushing a deadline, this may be my downfall, but I hope you like what is coming up! Plenty of surprises! Now let us proceed, shall we? Don't forget to read and review, I want to see plenty of them! 


	9. Confrontation

1 A Different Beat  
  
Chapter 8: Confrontation  
  
Upon arriving in the coastal city of Dollet, the group's expression dropped flat. The city was literally witering away from the destruction of some unknown force. Fires erupted thoughout the town, and people screamed in horror as the ground shock violently. Parts of the mountainside sunk into the earth and others rose into the air at alarming speeds, it was pure chaos.  
  
"Man, we've got to stop Zell quickly, before this who place is no more…" Squall announced as he and the other ran up to the top where Zell was continuing his raging energy wave massacre.  
  
"Zell, stop this madness at once!" Rinoa yelled at the tyrant who was continuing his world destruction.  
  
"Never, I will never stop bringing this shameful world into darkness, it is the will of me and my queen!" Zell shouted as he sent flying debris towards his former friends.  
  
I knew it, your alongside Ultimecia aren't you?!" Quistis yelled back demanding an explanation for Zell to join forces with Ultimecia.  
  
"So you jerks finally figured it out huh? Well now that you know, I will have to destroy you.'  
  
"C'mon Zell, fight it, fight her control, this is not what you really what, she's forcing you to do things that normally you wouldn't be caught doing, come back to us and live the good life." Irvine pleaded.  
  
"No, this is what I want! She understands me; she's there for me, not like the rest of you! When I needed you, where were you! Nowhere! When I wanted someone to have a good time with, where were you! Nowhere! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" Zell raged once again and gathered a huge ball of energy.  
  
"No Zell, stop!" Selphie again pleaded with the tyrant, but nothing could get though to Zell.  
  
"If you can dodge this, then you really must be more than I thought! Meteor Barret!!!  
  
Zell flew towards the group with his fist full of energy armed. He struck each member with increased strength leaving them all flat on their faces. Zell laughed a reassuring victory, but then gasped as he saw all his former friends rise to their feet after the deathblow.  
  
"Impossbile!"  
  
"No, it's possible, you remember how you wanted us to train more, well at the time we first fought you, we weren't ready, but now we are read and willing to get this job done!" Squall spoke as he readied his Lionheart and prepared to trust his Limit Break, Renzokuken.  
  
"Try this on for size Zell…Rough Divide!" Squall ran at Zell and did a rising slash with his gunblade and inflicted major damage on Zell.  
  
"Curse you Leonhart! Take this…Ultima!!" Zell replied as he sent an enormous green wave of energy into the heros that exploded violently with incredible force. All went down with major damage but they were still standing tall and true.  
  
"Chicken-Wuss, with or power combined, you cannot defeat us no matter how hard you try, admit it!"  
  
"Never, I shall never admit defeat until I am on the verge of death! My Final Heaven!" Zell yelled as he raced away from the group and reappeared behind them.  
  
"Not this time!" smirked Seifer as she jumped high into the air and struck Zell in the heart with his gunblade.  
  
Zell, coughed up blood and held his chest in a surge of anger and pain, he fell from the sky and hit the pavement hard. He couldn't get up right away this time, but he got up eventually surprising Seifer expectation once again.  
  
"Will you ever go down?" Seifer snitched as he raced towards the combatant with sword in hand readying for the final blow. But Zell saw it coming and sent a fist full of energy against Seifer pushing him back from whence he came.  
  
"We will never be defeated, Ultimecia has blessed me with this power and I intend to use it! If you thought I was powerful wait until you get a load of my sidekick! Come Quezacotl!"  
  
"No, not a GF!" gasped Quistis astonished by this drastic measure of power.  
  
"Wahah, see if you can stop this! Quezacotl use your Thunder Storm now!" The thunderous aerial creature did as it was told obeying it's master and began to charge a beak full of lightning against the crew.  
  
"We can't stop now, we've come so far! Everyone use your GF's! It's our last chance!" Squall shouted. The group responded by summoning their GF's one by one. Rinoa had Diablos and Cactuar. Selphie had Ifrit and Bahamut. Irvine had Brother and Tonberry. Quistis had Pandemona and Shiva. Seifer had Alexander and Siren, and finally Squall had Doomtrain and Eden. With the combined powers of all their GF's, the gang sent a massive serge of energy against the blast of Quezacotl's Thunder Storm. The two blasts collided with each other intensely. One was not stronger than the other, the two blasts were even in power and no one was really winning the fight.  
  
"C'mon, a little more guys…concentrate!" Squall encouraged as he lead his teammates into the battle. Pushing themselves to the limits, the warriors send forth even more energy against Zell's GF. Slowly but surely, the tables turned and the blast from the combined powers started to push the energy back.  
  
"No, this cannot be, my queen please guide me!" Zell begged as the blast came closer to him and his GF.  
  
All of a sudden a blast erupted from behind the group and out came a familiar foe whose dark heart still beat vividly.  
  
"Now, Griever, MAKE THEM BLEED!" Zell shouted in the voice of Ultimecia. The evil GF obeyed and once against summoned his most intense attack "Shockwave Pulsar". The entire group was engulfed into a room full of energy spinning around them as they exploded in contact with the explosion.  
  
"Damn, he's good! Wasn't expecting this at all…" Squall hissed as he held his right arm in pain.  
  
"We're no match for him if he's got Griever…" Seifer said believing that all hope was lost.  
  
"We beat him before, we can beat him again!" Squall shouted as he summoned his Eden again, but this time Griever destroyed it with the flash of his claws. The lion beast took this opportunity to destroy all the GF's while he was at it leaving the party without their powers.  
  
"I'm not through with you yet Griever! We still have some of your master's power, everyone Triple Apocalypse!" Squall commanded as the group agreed and let loose a powerful blast of multi-colored energy onto the lion. The lion roared in pain as it lost a massive amount of energy. "Everyone, again, its weakling!" Again, another triple Apocalypse was sent forth onto the evil GF. This time, the beast was ready, he chanted a reflect spell and everyone got triple Apocalypses. Now their hit points were severely diminished.  
  
"Blast it!" Seifer cursed. "We're done for it we get hit by another blast!"  
  
"Hold on guys!" Selphie announced as she performed her Full-cure limit break from her slot healing everyone instantly to his or her full potential.  
  
"Damn it! Griever! Give them another round of your "Shockware Pulsar!"  
  
The lion roared against and was just about to what it's master had wanted when all of a sudden out of no where 4 swords fell into the ground. Momentarily a brave red figure appeared dressed in black and red.  
  
"It's Odin! He's back, and he's not alone!" cried Rinoa.  
  
"Gilgamesh!" cheered Selphie.  
  
"How…in the world!" glared a wide-eyed Seifer who was surprised to see his once beaten foe alive again alongside the one that defeated him before a year ago.  
  
"Brave SeeD's of Garden, allow us the honor!" Gilgamesh's dark voice boomed as she drew his rapier.  
  
"Die, hell-spawn demon!" roared the black knight Odin, who again was joined by his faithful steed.  
  
Griever sent a blast of Flare towards the dark knights as they stood there and embraced the ray of heat. It had no effect.  
  
"What the…" gasped Zell.  
  
But he didn't have time to finished as an immense explosion was heard in the direction of his lion GF. The explosion had the strength of 100 Flares and blinded everyone who looked. The bright light eventually subsided and when the smoke cleared, Griever had been decimated.  
  
Author's Note: Well how about that, what a chapter! Full of surprises I hope! How many of you were expecting Griever huh? ^^. I had to admit if I was bringing Ultimecia back, I wanted Zell to have her powers as well. And what about Odin, did you expect him to make a return appearance! I don't think so! Well now all the heroes have to do is beat Zell and save him from Ultimecia, theirs lots more to come so don't touch that dial! 


	10. The Last Battle

1 A Different Beat  
  
Chapter 9: The Last Battle  
  
"I still can't believe that you beat Griever, well no matter, I will defeat you all myself!" Zell beamed as he spat on the ground and focused his attention on the party.  
  
"No Zell, you will face me alone…I am not about to watch other one of my friend suffer from your wraith."  
  
"What, Squall, no, don't say that, you can't do this alone! We didn't come all this way to…" Rinoa cried.  
  
"That's madness Squall!" Irvine protested to his commander.  
  
"Squall, what are you thinking!" objected Quistis.  
  
"Noooooo Squall!" disputed Selphie.  
  
"Quiet, all of you! If you know what's good for you, get back to the ship and wait for me!"  
  
"No, I won't, I'm staying here Squall, I won't leave you!" Rinoa weeped.  
  
"Rinoa, you can't, they need you down there. I've been so selfish dragging you all into this, but this is something I want to take care off alone…" Squall said to his beloved.  
  
"Well, I can't stop you, good luck Squall…I…I love you…"  
  
"I…love you too Rinoa, from the bottom of my heart. I'll be back don't you worry."  
  
"I'll try not too…"  
  
"Go get 'em Squall, you can do it!" Selphie cheered as she retreated to the ship.  
  
"You've changed Squall, you'd better come back!" Quistis nodded and ran towards the ship.  
  
"Adios partner, good luck to ya!" Irvine gave the thumbs-up sign and raced back to the ship with the others.  
  
The wind blew a gentle breeze across the path of the two at the standoff. One side, a first full of fury, and the other, the power of the Lionheart was at his side. It was the deciding battle for the planet's destiny. The tattooed-face combatant was the first to speak.  
  
"Ok, Squall, this is it, the battle that will decide the fate of this planet. Now…be prepared to meet your fate!"  
  
"Let's finish this! Zell, I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else, it will be you that will die today,"  
  
"Such a lame threat, but can you back it up with that puny blade?"  
  
"You dare defy the power of my Lionheart?"  
  
"Looks more like a Lameheart to me, heh heh…"  
  
"You will regret those words Zell!" Squall finished saying as he charged at the menace.  
  
"Bring it on Squall!" Zell roared as he powered up and sent a fist full of energy towards his rival. Squall saw this coming and rolled over to the right side, regained his balance and continued his charged towards Zell.  
  
"Cretan! Meteor Blast!" Zell signaled as he extended his right hand towards his enemy and let out a charged blast. It missed Squal by a inch and left a slight burn on his leather jacket, but it didn't faze Squall's movement as his persistency charged on.  
  
"Persistent bastard, bet you haven't seen this attack, I was saving it for you! Double Charged Tomahawk!" Zell fumed as he put both his hands together to form a double-charged shot and let loose multiple energy blasts in every direction towards Squall.  
  
Squall slide, ducked, rolled, jumped over and moved his neck to both sides to every single blast that came towards him from Zell, by this time he was within reach of the titan's figure.  
  
"I…I don't believe it, how..could..you avoid…" Zell stuttered.  
  
"No more Zell, no more violence. Now face your fate! Lionheart!!!" Squall shouted as he ran towards Zell and slashed him continuously for an uncertain amount of time. One after another, each slashed slowly drained Zell of his energy and before long the one-powerful titan was down at the feet of Squall cursing under his breath.  
  
"Ugh…very good Squall…you…you win…I…"  
  
"Whattt…" Squall asked not hearing Zell under his panting breathes.  
  
"I'm sorry…I caused so much trouble, I just wanted to be noticed, loved, and most of all respected for who I am…I let Ultimecia take me over…but…now I know it was a foolish…if I get possessed by her power again, please just destroy me before I destroy…ugh…"  
  
"Shh, don't talk, save your strength…" Squall said trying to comfort the young warrior in his hands.  
  
"Squall, just promise me one thing…that you'll destroy Ultimecia, stop her before…she take over the world."  
  
"You have my word, I won't let her get away with this…"  
  
"Heh heh, that's the sprit, I know you will, I'm just sorry I couldn't be of any help, I have…ugh…one last request."  
  
"Anything old friend, just name it and I will be sure it is granted…"  
  
"Squall, please…never forget me for who I was…never forget the good times we had. I only wish I could see the sunrise one more time…good…bye…Squall…"  
  
"Zell! Wake up! Dammit! Don't go dying on me! This isn't funny! Zellllllllllllllllllll!!!"  
  
But, there was nothing. The young warrior lay silent in the soft green grass high atop the mountain. His last breath had escaped and now he faced his destiny for all time.  
  
"Don't worry Zell, I…I won't let her get away with this…" the young gunblader said in a tear-strung voice as he wept over the combatant body. "Ultimecia! You evil witch! If you can hear me, know that I vow with my honor to destroy you once and for all!" Squall yelled into the open-ended sky. He gave one last look at Zell, preyed a short prayer and retreated back to the ship along with the others.  
  
~ The End ~  
  
Written by Prince Tiger R. Blood as known as Nick Maddix  
  
Finished 5-6-02 @ 6:12 A.M.  
  
Author's FINAL note: Ok, so this wasn't the ending I had originally planned, but I've never written a sad ending before…so what do you think? Does this deserve a sequel or what?! Well, you might just get it if there are enough reviews for it! The journey isn't finished yet, now the team must venture into Zell's body and defeat the evil that lies with in. Can they do it, or will they perish in trying? Stay tuned for the sequel to "Different Beat"  
  
Thank you all for reading this and long live the Final Fantasy Series!  
  
Sincerely with love,  
  
Prince Tiger a.k.a. Nick  
  
tigersblood33@hotmail.com  
  
http://www.thetigersmeow.net 


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